Lyon centre-back Jeremy Morel disclosed that a knee injury has forced him out of Madagascar's first two games at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Madagascar have made a promising start in their debut continental outing and are on the verge of advancing to the knockout round on Sunday.
The Barea held Guinea to a 2-2 draw in their opening match and later defeated Burundi 1-0 in their second group outing in Egypt.
They are second in Group B with four points after two games and they will face leaders Nigeria in their last group outing on Sunday.
Ahead of the clash at Alexandria Stadium, Morel revealed the reason behind his absence from the team and also ruled himself out of the match against the Super Eagles.
"For your information, a sprained ankle kept me off the field in the first two games," Morel tweeted.
"It will just too early for me to play against Nigeria but I am not very far from being operational. It's frustrating in a personal capacity but the important thing is the team."
During the 2018-19 Ligue 1 season, the 35-year-old started 12 games for Lyon as they finished third behind Lille and champions PSG on the Ligue 1 table.
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)